It has come the time in which semester one is finally ending. It has been a hilly journey from beginning to end, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here.
Coming into college, I expected my classes to be harder than they were in high school, but not this much. I knew that a lot of them would be based solely on exams, especially considering four out of five of my classes are core classes. This was definitely something that created a barrier in my education. I was never truly good at taking exams, therefore, when I realized my grades were dependent on exams, there was a sort of pressure that I had never really experienced before. In high school, there were classworks, homeworks, and group works that made up for low exam grades, however, this simply just did not exist in college. Due to this, I expected a bit more leniency and guidance, but was proved wrong immediately after my first few exams. College is very different from any other education institutions in the aspect that it forces you to be more independent and apply all your knowledge at once through exams.
Despite the barriers that I have faced in my other classes, CPSG100 was a very interesting class and I enjoyed the topics that were covered. In the beginning of the semester, I knew the class had something to do with climate change and its subcategories of global warming and whatnot. However, as we delved deeper into the material, we started to explore topics I would have never thought would be mentioned in this class. One thing that popped out to me was that we looked into why individuals do not believe in climate change and what factors go into that. We delved further and looked at how these factors have been present in society for a long time, and how they have applied to concepts other than climate change. At one point we also looked into logical fallacies and practiced recognizing them. There was not anything specifically that I thought we would learn that we did not, if anything the class went above and beyond in explaining its material. The out of classroom materials, which mainly consisted of a discussion before colloquium and a quiz at the end of the week, fit in nicely in respect to the curriculum. The discussion prepped us for what was to be explained in lecture that day, and the quiz was a nice wrap up of everything we learned that week.
In general, aside from my academic life, I thought my life would be easier because I would have less classes a day and therefore more time to do what I wished. However, I realized quickly that this was not true. Although yes there are less classes, you are responsible for your own schedule. This consists of waking up and making sure you get to class, walking between your classes, making sure to make time to eat, hang out with friends, participate in club, and so much more. In high school, there was a very static schedule; it was the same thing every single day. However in college, it is much more dynamic. Everything is up to you, from the start of the day to the end. This was definitely something that I had to adjust to, and something that I am still adjusting to. It is a big change, and a lot of freedom is given to you all at once. However, it is your responsibility to make sure that you set your priorities right and do not take the freedom for granted.
To the future SGC students that will soon reside at the University of Maryland, live in the moment and enjoy everything. When it comes to exams, make sure to lock in weeks before, and not to pull all nighters. It is never worth it. Don’t take that 8am if you do not have to, and try not to take that 7pm either; it is not fun walking in the dead of night in the Winter. Go to everything and meet new people, especially people in your residence hall, if you choose to live in one. Some of my closest friends now were a result of living in Centreville. If you get a bad exam day, reflect on it, but do not dwell on it. College is a tough time and this is the first time that you have had to take exams like these. Ask for help if you need, most of the professors and TA’s are always willing to help, and trust me when I say, it is okay to make mistakes and do bad. You learn and grow from them, and that is what really matters. It is not the grades you get that define you but the amount of effort you put in, because your effort will always show in comparison to a mere number that is called your GPA. For engineering students specifically, there will be times where you contemplate pursuing engineering, whether it is because of your weed out CHEM135 class, or the constant exams every two weeks, but this is your sign to keep going. Good luck future University of Maryland students, you got this!